What Lies Beneath movie (2000)

Diana Scarwid is in it so it gets a 10.

Michelle does some annoying pouting but overall I find this to be one of her most transparent performances.

Love it. Great twist and they were a hot couple.

Diana Scarwid is good as the obligatory straight-talkin’ Best Friend.

Love this movie.

8/10

At the time I was disappointed because the trailer spoiled a major plot point but I watched it again in the last few years and enjoyed it quite a bit. It could be about 20 minutes shorter but it's a fun thriller. Pfeiffer is excellent and Diana Scarwid is always a welcome presence.

Dear lord, I just read the imdb trivia and apparently the plot is stolen from a Shelley Hack episode of Charlie's Angels!

It's underrated? It was very popular among release. Among the Top 10 grossers of the year.

Harrison Ford is the best thing in this movie.

R8 It was certainly a success at the time but it's largely forgotten now. That's what I meant by underrated.

Still can't believe Agent Coulson wrote this movie.

The scene with Michelle in the bathtub was cinema at its finest!

Is Michelle in every scene?

Oh man, I loved this movie upon seeing it in release in July 2000. Yes, the trailer revealed far too much, but I was far too much about the house (which was nothing more than a false front). Yes, I now think Alan Silvestri's score is one of his best (it's such a Bernard Herrmann-esque score that it qualifies as one of Silvestri's best), but I can appreciate that Robert Zemeckis "rolled" his entire crew over from "Cast Away" (something he has not recommended a cinematographic cast and crew to ever do).)

The dollywork especially (from Cinematographer Don Burgess), revealing important plot points, is impeccable. As are the performances of everyone involved: (Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford, Diana Scarwid, James Remar, Miranda Otto, Wendy Crewson, etc.) just involve to a make a movie that we can watch anytime.

rewatched it. Pfeiffer is all but two scenes I think.

Riveting! I remember watching it in the theater and couldn't stop thinking about it.

This is one of my favorite movies. A couple of years ago, I posted I love this movie in a 90s Thriller Movie Thread and someone who worked on the film commented with some behind the scenes stuff. The outside of the house was built and setup in a national park (forgot which one).

At last, a villain role for Harrison, who gets so boring always playing upright, uptight, firm-jawed ...

But does Diana Scarwid get the last word?

Amber Valletta stole the movie with a tour de force performance! All kidding aside, she was ok in her few scenes. She and Michelle almost look like sisters.

Shouldn’t it be What LAYS Beneath?

R21, not to spoil the plot, but "lies" in the title is a pun.

Ford and Pfeiffer were a very convincing couple. You can see that their marriage had its issues but that Ford never planned to leave her. The red herring couple next door, who seemed to be a manifestation of Pheiffer’s anxieties, was a nice nod to Rear Window.

Loved it when I saw it upon first release and found it very suspenseful and scary. All the jump scares worked and Ford and Pfeiffer were great. As others have noted, it's a little bit too long and a 5 or 10 minute chop couldn't have hurt, but I loved how the entire first half of the film is a big red herring and very little of it has anything to do with the next half of the movie. I found that very clever. Zemeckis' camera work and blocking were exceptional and very cinematic. It was like something Hitchcock would have done if he'd had all the tools at his disposal.

Ford gets top billing though Pfeiffer has the leading role.

R25 Ford was the bigger star, that's why. Also see Clark Gable in GONE WITH THE WIND.

In the 1990s alone, Ford had the smash hits PRESUMED INNOCENT (1990), REGARDING HENRY (1991), PATRIOT GAMES (1992), THE FUGITIVE (1993), CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994), and AIR FORCE ONE (1997)).

PRESUMED INNOCENT, THE FUGITIVE, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, and AIR FORCE ONE were among the highest-grossing films of their respective years.

Pfeiffer's box office hits were few and far between, with 1992's BATMAN RETURNS being her only blockbuster.

"This film does for bathtubs what "Psycho" did for showers!"

I saw "What Lies Beneath" in the theatrical release, and it was the first DVD I ever owned. I love the film. It's autumnal, tremendously atmospheric and everyone is good in it. Apparently, at one of the film festivals, producers had hotel staff completely fill the press bathtubs while they were out of their rooms...for spook effect.

It isn't the best or most original thriller I've ever seen, but it's a favorite.

I was waiting for the mother of the dead girl to comment on how Michelle Pfeiffer looked just like her, but it didn't happen.

Two snaps!

One of my faves. I have to torrent it this weekend maybe.

Harrison Ford needs to play more bad guys. He was great.

I am confused about the car crash plot point.

****Spoiler****

My understanding, he killed the girlfriend and then put her in the car and rolled it in the pond

Hollywood is trying to erase white people but you have to admit: they did make some great movies in their time.

This film is timely given all the dead wives stories we’ve had since then. Reminds me of The Staircase type shit. And “Killed then, killed them all.”

Loved it. Filmed near me. Trivia - The bridge was blown up in 2009 and replaced.

R21, "lies" is the proper intransitive tense. Remember it this way - pLAYce, recLIEne.

The red herring took up too much time and energy.

The dog was great, though.

It’s on hbo max now

I remember this being the first movie I saw on VHS after 9/11. I know it was filmed in 2000, but the film's sad tone and the quiet, creepy atmosphere seemed so fitting with the time. For the character living a perfect life was an illusion, and waking up in a bizarre and nightmarish world becomes her reality. It had a decently compelling storyline, and Michelle is great.

R35 - no I am confused about Michelle's character's car crash of the previous year.

I just rewatched it. In the scene where Michelle is paralyzed in the tub and The husband says this will give him a chance to get closer to his step daughter, is he implying he is going to try to bang her? I am confused.

Yep r44. That’s exactly what he was implying.

The house was specially built in a park? Why would they need to do that?

R44, after all of this time, I could be misremembering things, but it seemed clear that Ford really resented all of the emotional energy Michelle put into her relationship with her daughter. He hoped that once the daughter was off to college Michelle would just focus on him. Of course, her loneliness and maternal energy found a different outlet in her relationship with the ghost college girl.

So, yes, him talking about getting close to the stepdaughter was particularly vindictive.

[R45] damn this movie is even darker than I remember.

R48 right? I didn't pick up on that either 😬

I like it because I'm one of Diana Scarwid's FANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

list of the movie's tropes.

Watching it now on HBO

It’s kinda scary and certainly suspenseful.

I’ve watched this movie a few times and I figured out something. When Madison’s mother says to Claire, you don’t even need the sound on (the TV,) you can tell what they’re saying just by looking at their faces.

***spoiler***

When Claire is paralyzed and in the bathtub, Harrison Ford starts telling her the truth about everything. Claire is silent/paralyzed, but you can tell what’s she thinking (how horrified) just by looking at her face.

I feel sorry for Harrison Ford's character in the movie.

Um I think when he killed his mistress he crossed a line.

R53 why?